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The Earths fatal turns towards authoritarianism is alarming.

F1fan

Veteran Member
That may hold some truth but people in general can sense when they are slowly being penned in and corralled.
Like women' reproductive rights being taken way. When trans people are being legislated into being criminals. Gay rights might be next. Interacial marriage might be challenged.

When freedoms swing towards one category and against another we might be in trouble.

Freedom within a community is always a compromised agreement for the sake of the whole.
 

Hermit Philosopher

Selflessly here for you
You're a social psychologist, right? I assume you've studied the complex interplay between the individual and the community in the human species that is largely successful due to its social evolution?

The use of the term evolution in context of social psychology should be discouraged. There’s a well-founded risk of contributing to a revival of old -and incorrect- social biological discourses otherwise.


I think the ability of humans to empathize and work within a community to fulfill our needs for social connectedness and security and our instinctual desires for selfish needs always requires compromises on freedom. I think of Carl Jung's concept of the Self evolving between the selfish needs of the Id and the demands of the Superego.

But why should any of this make you open to the idea of enslaving individuals…?


Humbly
Hermit
 

RestlessSoul

Well-Known Member
Wave after wave of disruptive changes are hitting the Earth and people are "wearing" the "mark of the beast" in order to try to cling to that which is being swept away.

Covid, bird flu, monkeypox, hepatitis hitting children, Russia's war with Ukraine, Hindu bigotry growing in India, Israel/Iran, inflation, goods shortages, mass murder in the US, racist bigotry--- I could go on with a bit more thought.

"something is happening but you don't know what it is, do you Mr. Jones"


Thanks, I think I’ll play that record now. The world always needs more Bob Dylan
 

Evangelicalhumanist

"Truth" isn't a thing...
Premium Member
The use of the term evolution in context of social psychology should be discouraged. There’s a well-founded risk of contributing to a revival of old -and incorrect- social biological discourses otherwise.
I'm pretty sure Edward O. Wilson didn't entirely shy away from evolution in his "The Social Conquest of the Earth." I agree that a wholesale use of the idea in describing many human behaviours may be problematic, but surely there's a baseline set of behaviours that are the result of evolutionary pressures.
 

Hermit Philosopher

Selflessly here for you
I'm pretty sure Edward O. Wilson didn't entirely shy away from evolution in his "The Social Conquest of the Earth." I agree that a wholesale use of the idea in describing many human behaviours may be problematic, but surely there's a baseline set of behaviours that are the result of evolutionary pressures.

It’s advisable to clearly distinguish between biology and sociology. Yes, they interact but their terminologies are best left in separate rooms. We learnt that the hard way in the past.


Humbly
Hermit
 

mikkel_the_dane

My own religion
I'm pretty sure Edward O. Wilson didn't entirely shy away from evolution in his "The Social Conquest of the Earth." I agree that a wholesale use of the idea in describing many human behaviours may be problematic, but surely there's a baseline set of behaviours that are the result of evolutionary pressures.

Well, yes. But that is also the case for some that are considered wrong/bad/evil.
 

Guitar's Cry

Disciple of Pan
The use of the term evolution in context of social psychology should be discouraged. There’s a well-founded risk of contributing to a revival of old -and incorrect- social biological discourses otherwise.

Except that I hope I am clear that I am referring to the well-established science that shows humans have adapted as a social species due to the benefits it gives us.

But why should any of this make you open to the idea of enslaving individuals…?


Humbly
Hermit

It doesn't. However, it does mean that individual freedoms are necessarily restricted in order to function in a community. It also means we have certain behaviors that sometimes lead to acting for the good of the group rather than for individual benefit. While the latter is also true, ethology always provides for a diversity of behavior, but this observation doesn't dispel the idea that certain freedoms need to be restricted for survival of the group. You yourself give up certain freedoms in order to do this. Posting on Religious Forums is a minor example; by doing so, you adhere to norms and expectations.
 
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Guitar's Cry

Disciple of Pan
I'm pretty sure Edward O. Wilson didn't entirely shy away from evolution in his "The Social Conquest of the Earth." I agree that a wholesale use of the idea in describing many human behaviours may be problematic, but surely there's a baseline set of behaviours that are the result of evolutionary pressures.

Unless you disbelieve in evolution, it needs to be considered in understanding human ethology.
 
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